Friday, 6 July 2018

Anti pollution skincare

There is always a lot of confusing
terminology within the beauty industry and certainly when it comes to skincare,
it’s a complete minefield when trying to separate the jargon from what you
actually need to incorporate into your routine.

Recently we have seen more and more products
coming in that are targeted towards pollution protection, antioxidants and free
radicals. We all know that our skin is under continuous threat from
environmental aggressors but how do these products really benefit us and how do
they work?

I write the majority of the blogs for Sam
and Nic (this is Stacey incase you didn’t know) and for the last year I have
been studying Skin Science, am currently nervously awaiting my exam results! I
learnt a lot about environmental stress on the skin and wanted to talk you
through what I have learnt in the hope that it may explain some of the more
technical aspects of this type of skincare.

What are Free radicals and why do we need
protecting from them?

Essentially a Free Radical is an un charged
molecule within the skin. You’ll probably remember from your Science lessons
that a molecule requires two electrons (or maybe not, I also had forgotten
until studying again).

An
un-charged molecule means that it’s floating about with only one electron, a
bit like a little one armed baddie! This little guy is desperate to find his
other arm (second electron) so he tries to steal arms from other molecules.
This creates a domino effect, as each molecule has to steal electrons to
replace the one it has just lost. Eventually this causes cell damage and can
result in cell death, skin ageing or mutation into something nasty.

So how do we stop these pesky molecules
from stealing electrons? We give them antioxidants. Antioxidants are like
little electron donors that willingly hand over an extra electron to the
uncharged molecules. Once the un charged molecule (free radical) receives its
second electron it becomes neutralised and is now content to continue on his
merry way!

How do we get antioxidants?

Diet
is essential as it provides us with nutrients and Vitamins, such as Vitamin C
& E that protect us from the inside but it’s also beneficial to have a
little assistance from our skincare to tackle the problem externally also.

We
can do this by firstly always using a broad-spectrum sunscreen but also through
the use of specialized spritzes or serums.

Here are some facial spritzes we have
tested over the last few months, which tackle this problem and take up seconds
as a final step in your skincare routine.

Sarah Chapman Skinesis Liquid Facial D-Stress is a micro mist containing hydrators and peptides as well as antioxidant glycofilm protectors. It's a mini shield against pollution whilst replenishing the natural barriers of the skin

Image: www.sarahchapman.net

Ren flash Defence Anti-pollution Mist protects against free radicals and also contains Zinc to strengthen the skin's barrier and Quercetin which stimulates the defence cells of the skin.

Image: www.renskincare.com

There are also various cleansers and moisturisers now emerging with this anti-pollution technology so it's worth checking out if you are concerned or live in areas with high pollution.